The Scope and Limits of Translation History: A Critical Overview

This paper offers a critical overview of translation history as a subfield of Translation Studies, examining its scope, functions, and methodological challenges. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of scholars such as Susan Bassnett, André Lefevere, Lawrence Venuti, Jeremy Munday, Anthony Pym, and Lieven D’Hulst, the study explores how translation history has evolved beyond the documentation of past practices into a critically reflexive discipline concerned with historiography and metahistoriography. The paper argues that translation is not a neutral linguistic activity but a culturally embedded practice shaped by ideology, patronage, and power relations, and that its historiographical narratives are inevitably influenced by the interpretive frameworks researchers bring to the data. Particular attention is paid to the Turkish context, where periods such as the Tanzimat (Reformation) Era and the early Republican reforms illustrate translation’s role in cultural transformation and modernization. Building on Julio-César Santoyo’s critique of “blank spaces” in translation historiography, the paper further argues that areas such as oral interpreting and everyday translation practices remain significantly underexplored, particularly in Turkish academia, where research has predominantly focused on literary translation. The study concludes that the future of translation history depends on methodological diversification, interdisciplinary engagement, and the inclusion of non-literary, oral, and everyday translation practices, alongside a sustained critical awareness of the ideological and positional dimensions of historiographical writing.